Layers
by SGHP16
Summary: Jim's fingers lightly brushed the bruises covering Pam's body. Tears filled his eyes as he realized who had done this to her. Pam longed to forget all about Roy and run away with Jim, forever. But it wasn't that simple. Nothing ever was, really.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the office, as much as I wish that I did.**

**A/N: I just wanted to say that I totally love the way things have worked out for Jim and Pam! I would not change it in any way! That being said, I am writing this story merely for fun. This story takes place sometime in season two, when Pam is engaged to Roy and they haven't set a date for their wedding yet. Please read and review!**

**Chapter 1:**

It was a typical Monday morning in the office, and no one wanted to be there besides Dwight. Pam sighed and put her head down on her desk. She closed her eyes and longed to fall asleep. Last night had been a particularly long one spent arguing with Roy, and she hadn't gotten much sleep, but that was pretty much the way every night went recently. She tilted her head to the side and ran her fingers through her frizzy hair. She hadn't put a lot of effort into doing her hair that morning, and right now it was just a tangled mess of brown and red curls pulled back into the usual half-ponytail. While she was in the midst wallowing in self-pity, the phone rang. Pam groaned and rubbed her eyes as she answered drowsily.

"Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam."

"Hi Pam, this is Jim Halpert. I'm calling to report a seriously exhausted secretary who's being a total downer this morning."

Pam smiled and looked up at the one good thing about working at Dunder Mifflin. Being with Jim just took away all of the stress in her life, she couldn't ever be upset when he was around. Sometimes she even thought that maybe there was something more between them, but it was just a feeling after all.

"Anyways," Jim continued, looking over at Dwight's empty desk, he'd gone over to accounting to subtly flirt with Angela, "I was wondering if playing a prank on a certain co-worker of mine would help cheer her up a little bit. What do you think?"

"Hmm," Pam pondered with that warm feeling inside of her that she always got when she talked to Jim, "well, playing pranks on other people is a little bit immature...and she'd love to do it. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I was thinking about doing something involving that _obnoxious _megaphone of his..."

Pam laughed, recently Dwight had become fed up with people leaving the office or starting their lunch break early. He claimed it was "wasting important company time", so he'd bought a megaphone and proceeded to yell at whoever decided to get up from their desks a few minutes before the actual time. "Oh he'd _love _that..."

"Yeah," said Jim, his feet propped up on Dwight's desk, "you know they sell these megaphones for kids, that look like real ones, but they distort your voice. I think Dwight would really enjoy that."

"Wow," said Pam shaking her head, "kiddy megaphones, that's the best we can think of? Have we really sunk that low? We should be ashamed."

"True, and going out to buy one would force us to spend less time in the office, and that'd just be horrible."

"It would almost be a punishment for thinking of such a lame prank," Pam agreed, "and I think it's important that we learn our lesson."

"I agree," said Jim, smiling at Pam, "let's do it."

* * *

So during lunch that day, Jim and Pam convinced Michael that they needed to go out to lunch because their doctors had told them to eat more seafood. After listening to Michael make several uncomfortable jokes, they finally managed to slip away from their dull office.

"So," said Pam, "there's a party store just down the street from here. We could walk there."

"Sounds good," Jim replied contently.

As they walked down the sidewalk, the warehouse boys were on their lunch break as well, and were eating outside when Jim and Pam passed by them.

"Hey Pam!" Roy called over to her. He ran up to the two of them. "What's up guys?"

Pam tried not to look uncomfortable or anxious. "Nothing," she said quickly, "we were just running an errand for Michael."

"Huh." said Roy, staring at the two of them. He wasn't sure why, but he always got the feeling there was something going on between them. "Alright. Well, I'll see you at five."

Pam couldn't help but notice that something in Roy's tone sounded threatening. "Okay, bye." She gave Roy a soft kiss on the cheek and then walked off in a hurry with Jim trailing behind her.

After catching up, Jim raised his eyebrows and looked at Pam.

Pam looked up at him. "What?" she asked, sounding slightly aggravated.

"Oh, nothing," Jim replied, "I just didn't know Michael was so interested in our prank, that's all."

Pam sighed. "Well what was I supposed to say? That we were skipping work to go pull something on Dwight?"

"Right," said Jim with a hint of sarcasm. "Because Roy and Dwight are _such_ good friends, he'd hate to know that we were messing with him."

Pam groaned. "Can we drop this now, please?"

"Alright, fine. Let's move on."

For a while they just walked down the sidewalk in silence. Jim kicked himself for annoying Pam the way he had. He hated knowing that he'd hurt her feelings. He just didn't understand why she seemed so afraid to tell Roy the truth.

"Look," said Jim, "I'm sorry Pam. It's really none of my business what you choose to tell Roy anyways."

Pam smiled, "It's fine Jim. Let's just forget about it."

"So," Jim continued, "did you hear about Michael crashing Jan's easter dinner party so that he could meet her family?"

Pam stared at Jim and gasped, "What?"

Jim laughed, "yeah, he told me all about it because apparently, we're best friends now."

Pam shoved Jim jokingly, "And you've been keeping this from me? How could you? Tell me everything!"

Pretty soon Jim and Pam were cracking up as Jim told her the latest insane thing Michael had done in his life. Pam was filled with happiness. She wished that she could always feel this way. Just enjoying herself with the one person who always knew just how to make her smile.

Eventually, they reached the party store. After browsing through the aisles, Jim found a microphone that made your voice several octaves higher than it actually was. They agreed that it was perfect and reluctantly headed back to the office.

* * *

"Stanley Hudson! It is four fifty eight! Get back-" Dwight stopped, suddenly realizing that something was wrong with his voice. Jim and Pam exchanged glances at each other, trying not to laugh. "Alright! Who did this?" Dwight yelled, still shouting through the megaphone. "I demand to know! Who thinks this is funny?"

Jim and Pam were now difficultly struggling to hold back their laughter. Pam wasn't sure why she found this so funny, perhaps it was just knowing the secret that she and Jim had managed to pull off together. Either way, she was practically dying, when Roy walked in.

"Roy!" said Pam, quickly sitting up straight. "What are you doing here?"

"It's five o'clock," Roy said simply.

"Actually," Dwight snapped in his still squeaky vocie, "it is only four fifty eight!"

Roy stared at Dwight with a confused look on his face. He turned back to Pam. "What's up with him?" he asked.

"Someone switched his megaphone with one of those toy ones that make your voice all high," said Pam laughing slightly.

"Sounds really immature," Roy said plainly.

Pam's smile faded. "Oh, yeah, I know right?" she glanced over at Jim, who was chewing on his pen and pretending not to be eavesdropping.

"Well," said Roy, sounding irritated, "come on, let's go."

"Okay," said Pam, not wanting to bother Roy. She grabbed up her bag and hurried towards the door. She was about to leave when she heard someone call after her. She turned around and saw Jim wave his hand at her.

"Bye Pam," he said timidly.

Pam stared into Jim's big, brown eyes and thought about what she was about to face when she got home. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, so many secrets she'd kept from everyone else. She felt the need to run into his arms and pour her heart out to him, just from one look into his eyes. Out of the millions of things she longed to say to him, all she could manage to do was utter a soft, "Goodbye Jim," and then she slowly headed out the door.

* * *

"Aw, come on! What are you thinking? Pam, the guy fumbled the ball _again_!"

"That's horrible Roy," Pam scurried about the kitchen while Roy yelled at the television. The night before she and Roy had gotten into an argument over the thought of setting a date for their wedding. The topic was sort of a taboo in their house, but Pam had somehow mustered up the courage to bring it up and well, things hadn't gone over well. So while Roy watched football, Pam was busy cooking him dinner to try and patch things up. Roy had always loved lasagna, and she'd borrowed her mom's recipe for the occasion. Pam rummaged around their tiny kitchen trying to find some oregano. Their house was small and quaint, they'd bought it when they'd first become engaged. Originally, Pam and Roy had intended for this house to only be temporary and to move after they got married. However, it had been three years, and the odds of them moving out anytime soon didn't look great.

Despite the fact that their kitchen was way too tiny for the average person, Pam had managed to find the oregano and make dinner. "Roy, I finished the lasagna," she said gently.

Roy groaned, as if it were a hassle for him to have to get up off the couch. He titled the t.v. to the side so that he could still watch the game while he ate. Pam wished he would turn it off so that they could just sit down and talk like a real couple, but she didn't dare say anything.

"So," Pam began, "how was work?"

"Good," Roy grunted while stuffing his face with lasagna. "Except someone spilled coffee over a ton of reams of paper, so it'll be coming out of our paychecks." He chewed loudly. "I hate when people pull stupid stunts like that. Oh, that reminds me, do you have any idea who switched Dwight's megaphone?"

"N-no" Pam stuttered, hoping Roy couldn't tell she was lying, "I'm not sure who it could be."

Roy didn't seem to notice Pam's fib. "I bet it was Halpert," he went on, "the guy acts so juvenile. Remember when he totally overreacted after I elbowed him during the basketball game?"

Pam played with her food, "he's not _that_ bad," she muttered.

Roy shrugged. He took a second portion of lasagna. "Speaking of Jim, you guys sure do seem to get paired up a lot of the time in that office of yours."

"Really? I didn't notice." Pam didn't like where this was going.

"Yeah, like today. When Michael asked you guys to run an errand for him. What'd you have to do anyways?"

"Pick up his lunch for him," said Pam nervously, trying to laugh. "He was too lazy to get it himself."

"Well when I came up to you guys, you seemed so secretive. Like you were...hiding something..."

Pam looked up at Roy. His eyes widened, and he suddenly looked tense. His mouth hung open slightly. _Shit_, Pam thought, _he's figured it out_.

"No way." said Roy sounding shocked and angry. "You guys were the ones who pulled that lame prank? You lied to me?"

"It was just a joke," Pam tried to explain.

"Then why couldn't you tell me about it, huh?" Roy stood up, angrily pushing his chair behind him. "You didn't think I'd find your _precious _inside joke with Jim funny?"

"No, Roy, calm down," Pam said slowly, "Like you said, it was a dumb prank. We were just being stupid."

"No!" Roy yelled furiously, "I saw him say goodbye to you today! I'm sick and tired of you going off and flirting with Jim all day while I'm at work! Stop being such a whore!"

Roy's words stung. Pam tried not to get upset. She took a deep breath and stayed in her seat, knowing that the only way to reason with Roy when he was angry was to try and stay relaxed.

"Roy please, I'm not flirting with him. We're friends, we just wanted to get out of the office," she stopped, knowing she'd said the wrong thing.

"Oh, so you guys just decided to go and run off together! God damn it _Pam_!" Roy boomed. "You're engaged to _me_!"

Pam cracked, irritated with Roy for being so irrational. "Last time I checked engaged means that you're gonna get married one day! I don't think that really applies to us, now does it?" she snapped at Roy without even thinking.

Roy's nostrils flared. He was pissed. He clenched his fists. Pam waited for him to say something, to yell at her in anger, but he remained silent. Then suddenly he kicked the table over, sending lasagna flying across the room, and charged at Pam. He smacked her across the face and knocked her out of her chair. Pam cried out in pain as her head hit the ground with a _thud. _

"Roy, please," Pam begged. She slowly stood up, one hand holding her throbbing head, the other extended slightly as a hopeless way to try and keep Roy away from her. "Please, not again. Not two nights in a row."

But there was no stopping Roy now. He pushed Pam back down on the floor with such force that her back slammed against the wall. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Roy bellowed. Pam didn't respond, she lay curled up on the ground stifling back tears. "ANSWER ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" Pam wailed out in agony as Roy kicked her square in the back. Her muscles tensed as she prepared herself for the next blow, but it didn't come. Pam looked up at Roy, with tears in her eyes. Roy stared at Pam and the anger disappeared from his face. "Don't ever lie to me again," he said bluntly. He looked at her for a few more seconds, then shook his head, and walked away.

Pam took a deep breath, knowing that things could have gone much, much worse. For a while she just laid on the floor, her heart racing. Little by little, she pulled herself up, using the wall for support. As she stood, her head immediately began to pound and she could feel a searing pain in her back. She moaned softly and then limped over to the bathroom to take a shower. She knew it was important to leave Roy alone for a while so his rage could wear off completely. As the hot water poured down on her, she closed her eyes and wished that she could disappear.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own the Office :(**

**A/N: Thanks so much for giving my story such nice reviews! I really appreciate them! Many people have asked why Pam would stay with Roy, and I think the answer is that abusive relationships are really complicated things. So to try and explain, this story will have flashbacks, which will be in italics so that it is easy to tell. Also, for those of you who are interested in this controversial topic, I would highly recommend reading the book "Picture Perfect" by Jodi Picoult. It is an amazing story and it is kind of what this story is based off of. Also, as a side-note, does anyone know what high school Pam and Roy went to? I think it has been mentioned before, but until I find out it will just be called "West Scranton High School". Additionally, I'm not sure when Pam and Roy started dating. I know it was sometime in high school, but for the sake of this story, let's just say they started dating at the end of senior year.**

**Chapter 2:**

_"Come on," said Roy Anderson's best friend Chad, "It's already the first week of June and you still haven't found a date to the prom. You're running out of time!"_

_Roy sighed. He knew Chad was right. It was the end of senior year and prom was next week. Yet for some reason, Roy hadn't been able to find anyone he'd like to go with._

_"I just don't get it," Chad continued. "You're captain of the basketball team, and the star athlete at West Scranton High School, tons of girls would be dying to go to the prom with you."_

_Roy grinned. "Well I can't argue with that. The problem is, there isn't any girl that _I'm_ dying to go with."_

_Chad rolled his eyes. "Seriously? There's over a hundred girls in our grade alone. There's got to be at least one that you wouldn't have a horrible time at prom with."_

_Roy looked around the hallways, figuring Chad was right, there had to be one decent girl somewhere out there. His eyes quickly skimmed past a group of cheerleaders gossiping, he'd never really been impressed by shallow girls. A few gothic chicks were reading some anime vampire book. Roy knew that he'd only feel depressed if he went with any of them. And then there were the nerdy girls that Roy didn't really mind, but he knew they'd be disgusted at the idea of going with him._

_Roy shook his head, "Nope. I guess I'm just a little more picky than you are, Chad."_

_Chad laughed, he and Roy had been best friends since kindergarden, and he knew Roy was right. Chad was a ladies man, he was going to prom with his latest girlfriend. Meanwhile, despite the fact that he was athletic, popular, and good-looking, Roy had always been slightly more hesitant. So it was no surprise that he hadn't found a date yet._

_"Well," he said, "if you're sure," _

_Roy was about to respond when someone bumped into him. _

_"Sorry," a voice quietly mumbled._

_"It's cool," said Roy turning around to see who'd pushed him. It was a girl wearing a red turtle neck, heading to her locker. Roy had never seen her before. In one hand she carried a CD player, in the other an art project. It was a watercolor painting of a snowy field, and it was pretty good. The girl who'd painted it was petite, with curly, light, auburn hair. Her eyes were a nice soft blue, and she had a sweet, innocent air to her._

_"Hey," Roy nudged Chad, smiling, "what about her? She's kinda cute."_

_Chad looked over at the girl Roy was staring at. He raised his eyebrows. "Pam Beasley?" he said, sounding surprised. "Are you serious? The girl's a total nun."_

_"She's perfect," Roy concluded. "Plus, that means there aren't any ex-boyfriends that I have to live up to."_

_Chad shook his head. "I don't get you Roy."_

_"Hey," Roy reasoned, "it's her as my date, or no date at all."_

_"Alright fine, man. Do what you gotta do."_

_So Roy approached Pam ready to work his charm._

_

* * *

_

Pam stared at herself in the mirror and wiped the last few tears from her eyes. She looked down at her body. There was a bruise forming on her back, but no one would be able to see it under her shirt. She could also feel a bump starting to rise in the back of her head from when she had fallen, but her half ponytail could hide that. She couldn't believe she'd acted so stupid. _What was I thinking? _She thought to herself. _I should've known better than to provoke Roy like that. I must've really hurt him. This whole thing was my fault._ And so, like every other time, Pam convinced herself that she was to blame.

Pam walked into their bedroom and quietly slipped into her pajamas. Roy wasn't in bed yet, she could hear the sounds of the game still playing. She tucked herself under the covers and closed her eyes, taking slow deep breaths. Then she heard the door open. Pam sat up slightly.

"Hey Pam," Roy said gently.

"Hi," Pam whispered.

Slowly, Roy sat down at the other end of the bed. He looked down at the blankets in shame. He shook his head. "I'm so sorry Pam," he said quietly. He looked up at her, tears filled his eyes. He quickly wiped them off.

"It's okay Roy. It's not your fault." said Pam, believing every word.

Little by little Roy worked his way under the covers next to Pam. He turned on his side so that he was facing her. He touched her cheek tenderly with his hand. Then he rubbed her back softly, careful not to touch where he'd kicked her.

"I love you so much, Pam," he said quietly.

Pam's eyes began to water. "I love you too, Roy," she agreed.

* * *

_Roy casually leaned against the wall next to Pam's locker._

_"Hey," he said nonchalantly, "nice painting."_

_Pam stared at Roy, puzzled. "Um, thanks."_

_"I'm Roy," he said, flashing a smile._

_Pam raised her eyebrows and stared at the guy who was trying to be attractive but coming off as a tool instead . "Yeah, I know," she said. "We've gone to school together since first grade." Pam realized that despite this fact, Roy probably didn't even know who she was. "I'm Pam," she added._

_"Well Pam," said Roy, "I was wondering, do you have a date to the prom?"_

_Pam blushed, "no, not yet."_

_"That's good," Roy went on, " because neither do I. So, I was wondering if you'd like to go with me." _

_Pam was stunned. She studied Roy's expression and tried to decide whether or not he was serious. She came to the conclusion that unfortunately, he was._

_"I don't think so." Pam said simply._

_"Great! So I'll-" Roy stopped. His face fell as he realized the impossible had happened. "Wait, did you just say no?"_

_Pam nodded. "Well," she said awkwardly, "um, see you later."_

_Roy stood there speechless as Pam walked away. He looked up open-mouthed at Chad, who was smirking. Roy shook his head. Now that he had gotten himself into this, he was determined not to give up until Pam went to the prom with him__._

**AN: Well I hope you guys liked it! Sorry it was so short :( The next one will be longer, AND have Jim :-D Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

_For the next few days, Roy was persistent in trying to get Pam to go to the prom with him. It no longer had to do with the fact that she seemed cute, or that he desperately needed a date to the prom. No, things had gotten personal. He needed to prove to himself, and to the rest of the school, that he could win her over. He'd tried everything. He arrived at her locker with flowers. He'd asked her out through the morning announcements. He'd even written her a song which he had played for her on his guitar while singing, though not very well. All of these attempts would have easily wooed every other girl in the school. Yet Pam would only awkwardly shake her head and move away from him as quickly as she could. Roy didn't understand. How on earth was he supposed to impress this girl? _

* * *

Jim took Pam's hand, golden sunlight shining down on his adorable messy hair. Pam locked eyes with him and saw his deep, brown eyes light up. A wide smile spread across his face as he threw his head back and laughed. Slowly, his gaze moved back to Pam. She could hear her heart pounding in her chest as he mouthed those three words "I love you". Pam stood on her tippy toes as Jim leaned in, closing the gap of light between them. He wrapped one arm around her waist, and twirled her hair in his fingers. Pam moved in to kiss him, when suddenly he pulled away. Pam stared at him in shock.

"Pam?"Jim asked in a loud, confused tone. The voice didn't sound like him. It was more...annoying.

"Jim, what?" Pam began, unsure of what was going on.

"Pam?" Jim repeated. "Pam? PAM? PAM!" His voice was sounding less and less like Jim's, and more like...

"PAM!" Michael shouted.

Pam lurched out of her seat and looked up at Michael. She must've dozed off. She was exhausted from the night before, and her head was still throbbing despite the fact that she'd taken an aspirin that morning. She tried not to think about the dream she'd just experienced. Instead she slowly rubbed her eyes and looked up at her boss.

"What, what is it Michael?"

"Pam, Pam, Pam," Michael began, shaking his head, "always falling asleep on the job. Maybe you shouldn't be spending so many late nights with Roy." A smirk spread across Michael's face.

Pam awkwardly looked away. After making her uncomfortable for a little bit longer, Michael turned and walked away. Pam groaned and put her head back down on her desk, nodding back off to sleep. This time however, she dreamt of a memory.

* * *

_Eighteen-year-old Pam Beesley scurried down the hallway, with the usual headphones in her ears and a pile of art projects in her arms. She dodged her way through the crowd of teenagers, gossiping about whatever the latest news was, when suddenly, she was confronted._

__

Missy Faude was the most popular girl of Pam's senior class. She was head cheerleader, and class president. Not only was she pretty with her tiny figure and her flowing dirty blond hair, but she was also smart too. She took the highest classes that were available for students to take, and she never received any grade lower than an A-. She was basically Miss High School. It was quite annoying actually.

"Pam Beesley!" Missy exclaimed, flipping her hair dramatically. "Is it true that Roy Anderson asked you to prom?"

"What?" asked Pam, surprised that Missy even knew her name. She pushed her headphones down to her neck. "Oh, uh, yeah, he did."

"And is it also true that you said no!" Missy cried, impatiently tapping her foot.

"Yes," said Pam softly.

"How dare you!" Missy yelled. "Every girl in the school has been anxiously waiting to see who Roy would decide to take the prom. And then he asks you, a nobody who should feel blessed that he even looked in your direction, and you reject him? Who do you think you are?"

Pam didn't know what to say. Clearly Missy couldn't even begin to fathom why Roy would ask someone like Pam over a perfect girl like herself. Then again, Pam didn't really understand it either. Finally, Pam opened her mouth to speak, but before she could respond, Missy stormed off in a huff. Pam sighed, glad that she would be graduating soon. She put her headphones back on, and turned to her locker, finding none other that Roy Anderson himself waiting for her there. Pam rolled her eyes and turned up the music, trying to block him out.

"Hey," said Roy loudly, trying to speak over the loud noises blasting out of Pam's headphones. "Can I talk to you? Hey!"

Pam reluctantly turned off her CD player. "What?" she said, sounding irritated.

"I just wanna talk," said Roy simply, "there's an ice cream shop right down the street. Will you meet me there after school? I know you take the bus, so I'll drive you home afterwards."

Pam didn't know how Roy had learned that she rode the bus, but realized that if she didn't agree to this, Roy would never give up.

"Fine," she agreed, "but after this, you have to promise to leave me alone."

Roy nodded, "deal."

"Okay, well, see you there then." Pam said, turning and walking away.

_A grin spread across Roy's face. It was only a matter of time. _

* * *

Later at lunch, Pam sat in the break room, eating some mixed-berry yogurt she had pulled out of the fridge. Mixed berry had always been her favorite flavor, ever since she could remember. Sometimes she couldn't recall why she liked it so much, but she enjoyed having it there all the same. Pam swirled her yogurt around with her spoon, trying not to think about the dream she'd had earlier. It wasn't like people can control what they dream about. There was no reason why she should get freaked out. Even if her dream was about...

"So, hows the yogurt?" said Jim, a warm smile on his face.

"Good," said Pam contently.

Jim nodded. "Nice. Mixed berry's always a good choice."

Pam smiled. "It's my favorite."

"I know," said Jim softly.

Pam looked up at Jim. She thought about her dream, and tried not to believe that she'd enjoyed it. She suddenly wondered what it would be like to kiss Jim, realizing that she never got the chance to in the dream. She felt herself slowly leaning closer to him, and him moving near her as well. Their elbows touched and Pam's eyes widened as she saw Jim reach for her hand. Realizing what was going on, she snapped back in her chair away from Jim. Frantically, she looked up at the clock.

"It's um, it's time for, l-lunch is over," said Pam, sounding flustered.

Jim leaned back against the wall, trying not to seem embarrassed. "Oh, yeah," he said.

"I should really get back to work."

"Yeah, of course. Go ahead."

So Pam quickly hurried out of the room unintentionally slamming the door behind her. Jim groaned and slammed his head on the table .

* * *

_Pam walked through the door of the ice cream parlor. Heads turned as she walked in and Pam realized that this was the place where most of the popular people in her school hung out. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Missy Faude glaring at her, her face green with envy. Already she began to regret coming. She was debating whether or not it was too soon to turn and leave, when she saw Roy, who was standing in line, waving to her. Realizing it was too late to change her mind, Pam walked up to Roy._

_"Hey," said Roy smiling, "you made it."_

_Pam nodded nervously. "It wasn't that hard to find the place," she mumbled._

_"Well," Roy went on, "what'll it be? Ice cream, frozen yogurt, or water ice?"_

_"One small mixed berry frozen yogurt please," Pam said to the employee._

_"Nice choice, make that two please," Roy agreed._

_After receiving their frozen yogurt, Pam and Roy took a seat down at a table in the corner of the shop. For a while they just sat there, eating their yogurt in silence. After she finished, Pam played with her napkin. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to Roy. She knew it would seem anti-social, but part of her longed to just take out her headphones and block everyone out, the way she normally did. Apparently, Roy had noticed her habit as well._

_"So," Roy began, "what is it that your always listening to in those headphones of yours anyways?"_

_"What?" said Pam, startled._

_"Whenever I see you, you're always listening to some CD. I'm interested. What type of music do you listen to?" _

_"N-nothing," said Pam, "just the usual stuff."_

_"Come on," Roy continued. He looked down at her backpack and saw her headphones sticking out. He reached across the table and pulled out her CD player. "Can I open it?" _

_"Okay," said Pam, quietly giving in._

_Roy flipped open the CD player, and twirled her CD around in his hands. He raised his eyebrows. "You listen to Gin Blossoms?"_

_"Kind of, yeah," said Pam, afraid that Roy would think they were some cheesy teen-heart throb band._

_"Me too!" said Roy excitedly. "They're one of my favorite bands."_

_Pam looked up at Roy hopefully. "Really? Everyone's heard of their song Hey Jealousy, but I kind of like some of their less popular songs."_

_Roy's eyes lit up, "my favorite one is their song, _As Long As It Matters_. How does that one line go? Even as it crashes down on me. I'm looking around, there's nothing that I could want more than to tell you, there's no more than we've already got. I'll be all right, as long as it matters,"_

_"As long as you're here with me now. Forget that our time is almost up I'll be all right." Pam continued. She felt a smile spread across her face._

_Roy grinned, "That's good stuff."_

_Pam looked down at the table, embarrassed. She couldn't believe she was sitting in an ice cream parlor, quoting songs with Roy Anderson of all people. She glanced over him and felt an awkward silence emerging. She tried to think of something else to talk about._

_"You know," she said eagerly, "it's funny that you should mention that song, because for one of my art projects, we had to use music lyrics. And I actually chose that same line."_

_"Really?" asked Roy, sounding intrigued. "Do you have it with you?"_

_Pam nodded and pulled the painting out of her backpack, handing it to Roy. She watched as Roy's eyes widened and gasped slightly._

_"This is really good," he said in amazement. The painting was of two people holding hands, with the lyrics flowing around the margins. "I mean it," said Roy earnestly, "I'm sorry I have no artistic talent so, I don't really know how to offer any perspective."_

_Pam laughed, "that's okay."_

_"Pam you're really talented. Are you going to pursue art in college?"_

_Pam shrugged, "I don't know, I'll probably take a few classes, I guess."_

_"Good," said Roy, sounding satisfied, "that's, that's good."_

_Pam blushed. Although she'd never admit it, part of her found Roy slightly, charming._

* * *

Jim angrily placed animated solitaire cards on top of each other. He swore as he was once again stuck. He put his head in his hands and pulled at his hair. He hated himself for screwing things up like that. What was he thinking, touching Pam's hand? Who did he think he was, _Roy? _Jim sighed, he didn't even want to let Roy cross his mind. All he wanted to do was be close to Pam, to let her know that he would be there for her. But of course he couldn't do that. He parted his fingers and took a peek at Pam. She was busy typing diligently on the computer. Jim couldn't help but feel disappointed. He didn't have the smallest effect over Pam. He couldn't even make her feel flustered.

"Someone's having a bad day," Dwight snorted.

Jim rubbed his eyes and looked over at Dwight. "Thanks Dwight," he said, "because you talking to me, just made it completely better."

Dwight pouted his lip. "Poor Jim," he mocked, "it must be hard not to be the number one salesperson at Dunder Mifflin."

Jim rolled his eyes.

"But then again," Dwight went on, "I guess that after working with me for so long, by now you should be used to watching other people get the things that you want."

Jim stared wistfully at Pam. Then he turned to Dwight, a serious expression on his face. "You have no idea."

_

* * *

When Roy dropped Pam off to her house that day, Pam braced herself, ready for Roy to once again ask her to prom. But she was surprised when Roy merely thanked her for coming with him, told her he had a good time, and said goodbye. Pam awkwardly nodded and headed out of Roy's old, beat up red truck. She timidly waved goodbye, as Roy drove away. She couldn't comprehend what she was feeling inside, but part of her didn't feel right. Could she have been, disappointed? She tried to shake it off, telling herself that she was crazy, Roy had asked her over and over again and she'd repeatedly turned him down. Still, Roy had seemed so, determined. Why had he suddenly given up? Pam tried to deny what she knew must've been true. Roy had gotten bored with her and moved on. It made perfect sense. No one had ever been that interested in pursuing Pam in the past, why would anyone suddenly be now? Obviously Roy had realized that Pam just, wasn't worth it. Pam was angry at herself for getting upset over this. It was her own fault, after all. She'd been given plenty of opportunities to accept, and she didn't._

_Pam ran out of time to contemplate the events that had just occurred, as her younger sister Penny hurried out to the front lawn. Pam and Penny were inseparable. They were only two years apart, and they told each other everything. Pam had always been secretly jealous of her though, with her curly light blond hair, deep blue eyes, and bubbly, giggly attitude. Still, Pam managed to dawn a smile as her sister hurried up to her._

_"Was that Roy Anderson driving you home?" she asked excitedly._

_Pam blushed, "yes, and you can calm down now because he's gone."_

_But Penny merely jumped for joy instead. "The entire school is talking about how Roy asked you to prom! How have you not said yes yet? Are you just playing hard to get?" She froze. "Oh my gosh, were you just on a _date _with Roy? So you are going to prom with him!"_

_Pam laughed and shook her head. "No, Penny, we were just getting ice cream." Penny raised her eyebrows. "As friends," Pam quickly added._

_Penny moaned. "I can't believe you. You're easily the luckiest girl in the entire world, and you don't even know it."_

_"Well," said Pam smiling, "I'm lucky I've got you here to remind me."_

_Penny huffed. "Now I've lost all of my chances of ever becoming popular," she said bitterly, storming back into the house._

_Pam chuckled slightly, but part of her wondered if perhaps Penny was right, maybe she should have said yes to Roy. Just for the heck of it. But she simply told herself there was no point in wondering about what could never be, and quickly followed after Penny._

_

* * *

_

Pam hopped out of her seat as the clock reached five. Eager to escape the dullness of the office, she raced out the door and headed down to the parking lot. As she looked around for Roy's truck, she noticed Jim sitting alone in his car. Hesitantly, she waved at him, and noticed his expression soften when he saw her. Glad to see that things were normal between them once again, Pam turned to leave, when she saw Jim beckon to her. Hoping that Roy wasn't nearby, she scurried over to Jim's car.

"Hey," he said, rolling down the window. "Sorry we didn't get to talk much today."

Pam shrugged. "It's cool, I'm sure we'll talk more tomorrow."

Jim nodded, "I'll make sure of that. So how was your day?"

"Horrible. I spent the entire time making animations on post-it notes. One was of Michael falling down some stairs."

Jim laughed. "You have to show me that later. Dwight has been driving me _crazy_, so I've got something planned for tomorrow. You in?"

Pam thought for a moment, remembering Roy's reaction to their last prank. Still, she didn't want Jim thinking that she didn't want him around. She figured she just needed to be more careful, and although she didn't like the idea of keeping secrets, all she had to do was make sure Roy never found out. "Definitely."

_

* * *

_

_"So how'd your date with Pam go?" Chad teased, sounding cocky as he stood by Roy's locker._

_"It wasn't a date," Roy said stubbornly. "And it was fine, thank you for asking."_

_Chad laughed and ran his fingers through his golden hair, winking at a girl walking by. He turned his gaze back to Roy. "Dude, why are you wasting so much over this girl? Vanessa was telling me-"_

_Roy stopped him. "Wait," he said, a confused look on his face, "who's Vanessa?"_

_Chad scoffed. "Don't you listen? Vanessa is the chick that I'm taking to prom."_

_Roy still seemed puzzled. "I thought that was Samantha."_

_"Nah, we broke up like a week ago, she got all jealous because apparently I flirt too much. Can you believe that?"_

_Roy tried to hold back his laughter. "Unbelievable," he said sarcastically._

_"Anyways," said Chad, annoyed that Roy had let him get off topic, "Vanessa, on the other hand, was telling me that she has tons of hot friends who would kill to go the prom with you. So why don't you just give up on Pam and take someone who you'd actually have fun with."_

_"Thanks man," said Roy, "but I can't." He closed his locker loudly, and headed off to homeroom, with Chad trailing behind him._

_Chad rolled his eyes. "If you say so. Did you at least ask Pam again at the end of your date? There's no way she'd be able to turn you down after ice cream with you. That one-on-one time thing gets girls every time."_

_Roy looked down at his feet. "Nope."_

_"What?" said Chad, stunned. "She said no? Wow man, she must really hate you."_

_Roy shook his head, "No, it's not that. I, I didn't ask her."_

_Chad groaned, getting sick of all of this drama. "What? Dude, why the hell not?"_

_Roy tried to think of the reason why himself. "I don't know," he whispered. "I mean, I was pretty confident that she'd say yes, but when the moment came, I couldn't make any words come out."_

_Chad stared at Roy, looking appalled and almost disgusted. "Are you serious? You, Roy Anderson, the guy who never gets nervous and can easily make every girl at Valley View High School swoon, got tongue tied by Pam Beesly? I don't get you."_

_"It's complicated," Roy insisted. "She's so...different from any other girl I've ever met. She's sweet, and shy, it's cute. And we like the same music. And she's so talented, she's an amazing artist. Suddenly, asking her out so spontaneously seemed so...wrong." _

_Chad gagged. "Well then think of some big gesture already, because your making me sick." _

_Roy thought for a moment. "I just don't know what I can do to show the girl how I really feel." _

_Chad moaned. "_How you really feel_?" he repeated, obviously horrified by his friend's newfound devotion, "you barely even know her."_

_Roy's eyes lit up. He beamed, looking over at Chad. "You're right," he said, clearly up to something. "I barely even know her." _

_

* * *

_

After work, Pam sat quietly in Roy's car as they drove home. Roy had barely said a word to her, she couldn't tell if it whether he was still angry or ashamed about the night before. Wanting to fill the awkward silence, Pam flipped through the radio stations, searching for something decent. She smiled as she came to an old 90's station. _As Long As It Matters_ by Gin Blossoms was playing. She looked up at Roy.

"Remember this song?" she said excitedly, hoping to cheer Roy up.

"Oh, yeah," Roy grunted, his eyes still on the road.

Pam tried not to feel let down. She couldn't expect Roy to remember every song from their past.

"I'll be alright, as long as it matters," she hummed softly to herself.

_

* * *

_

Pam Beesly filed into the school auditorium with the rest of the senior class, ready to listen to some boring lecture about their future and what to expect at college. She pushed her way through the crowd and saw her best friend Isabel waving to her. Isabel had always been very outgoing and a little bit eccentric, but Pam liked her that way. They were such opposites that in a weird way they kind of, worked. Pam sat down next to Isabel, who had taken a seat in the second row.

_"Hey," said Pam, "why are we sitting so far in the front?" _

_"No reason," said Isabel, excitement on her face, "I just, heard that this assembly was supposed to be really interesting." _

_Pam eyed Isabel quizzically. It was evident that she knew something she didn't. Pam decided not to worry about it and looked up at the stage. _

___After listening to a guest speaker's boring lecture, Pam got up out of her seat to leave. However, the lights in the auditorium unexpectedly all went off. Pam looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. She turned to Isabel. "What's going on?" she mouthed. Isabel shrugged. Pam's eyes snapped back to the stage when a spotlight appeared on it. Suddenly she realized her foot was tapping. There was music playing. Pam listened more intently and jumped when she realized the song was _As Long As It Matters_by Gin Blossoms. One name came to her mind. Pam gasped as she saw Roy Anderson walk into the spotlight with a microphone in his hand. She stared at him in disbelief. _No way,___ she thought to herself, _He wouldn't___._

___Suddenly, Pam realized that the room was getting brighter. She turned her head, to see if the lights had been turned back on. But they hadn't been. Pam nearly fainted from surprise and embarrassment as she realized that another spotlight was shining down on her. Everyone went silent. Pam could feel their eyes on her. She covered her mouth in her hands, and gazed intently at Roy as he began to speak._

_"I'm not going to sing this time," Roy began, laughing at himself, "I won't make you suffer more than once. But Pam Beesly, you're unlike anyone I've ever met, and you amaze me. It was wrong of me to ask you to prom so casually." Pam looked into his eyes and could tell that he was sincere. She was stunned. "And I know that I hardly know anything about you," he went on, "other than the fact that you love mixed berry yogurt, you listen to the Gin Blossoms, and you're an incredible artist." Roy stopped and looked down at his feet. "But I want to get to know you, at prom." He paused for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. "So what'll it be?" he asked. "Pam Beesly, will you go to the prom with me?"_

_Pam could hear people cheering and clapping. The applause gradually grew louder and faster. Unable to believe that she was actually doing this, she slowly stood up. With a timid smile upon her face, she nodded. "Okay," she said softly._

_Roy grinned, and put a hand up to his ear. "What was that?" he teased. "I can't hear you Pam. You gotta speak up!"_

_Pam blushed. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Yes!" she shouted._

_The crowd roared and a wave of cheering broke out. Pam must've been blushing a hundred different shades of red. Roy was still smiling._

_"Good," he said, Pam could hear the happiness in his voice, "I'll see you there."_

_

* * *

_**A/N: There you go! I'm sorry it's been forever since I have updated! Finals were...not fun. But anyways, now it's summer so hopefully I will update more often. I didn't realize how long this chapter was until I had afterwards, hopefully that makes up for the long wait! The next chapter will probably focus mostly on Pam and Roy, but then I promise that the plot with Jim and Pam will really pick up after that! Thank you for all of the amazing reviews and please let me know what you think! Also, thanks to SamanthaLeigh422 for letting me know that Pam and Roy went to Valley View High School :) Oh and one more thing, there has been some formatting issues with this chapter that I am trying to fix, but if it has weird gaps in it, I apologize!**


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